YouTube adds new creator tools like video A/B testing, dynamic thumbnails, and live dubbing

In a bid to help creators reach more people, YouTube on Wednesday unveiled a slew of new tools, many of which use AI to try out different tactics on videos to find what makes them perform best.

The new Ask Studio feature allows creators to share draft videos with AI to get personalized feedback based on their previous content and user comments. The feature will propose alternative titles and thumbnail options, analyze the creator’s channel analytics to explain the performance of their videos, and offer advice for improving metrics. Ask Studio is expanding to YouTube’s mobile apps, too.

YouTube already allows creators to A/B test titles and thumbnails, and from 2027, this feature will let creators upload and test three different cuts for Shorts. There’s also a Dynamic Thumbnails feature, with which creators can upload multiple thumbnails and leave it to YouTube to determine which thumbnail to show viewers that is most likely to spark their interest.

Creators can also apply these tools to their existing catalog. If a creator allows it, Ask Studio will be able to autonomously monitor thumbnail performance and create tests to refine older videos.

On the shopping front, YouTube will now use AI to auto-tag products, which it says will help creators earn money through affiliate programs. The company is also expanding its Amazon affiliate program beyond the U.S.

Some creators are understandably skeptical of using AI to support their content, worrying that just one AI-generated mistake could harm their credibility. For such features to succeed, they will need to be accurate enough to assuage creators’ concerns.

The platform is also giving creators new ways to go live. Early next year, YouTube will pilot auto-dubbing on live videos to translate creators’ speech into other languages in real time. The company is also launching a “live showdown” feature, which lets creators co-host streams together, and even get paired with other creators currently streaming through “live creator matchmaking.”

“Co-hosts can kick off friendly head-to-head matchups, where viewers send chats, gifts, and Super Chats to push their creator’s score forward on-screen in real time,” YouTube Live product manager Barbara MacDonald wrote in a blog post.

Hopefully these impromptu collaborations with strangers won’t turn into a hotbed of bad behavior.

YouTube also shared data that provides insight into how people are using the platform. More people continue to watch YouTube on household TVs, and more than half of the top 100 YouTube creators have “living room” as their most watched interface.

YouTube’s data also confirms what we know about the growth of the microdrama industry: In the first half of 2026, microdramas on YouTube surpassed 6.5 billion views, and their watch time rose 50% year-over-year. People even seem to be watching these episodic, vertical video series on the big screen, with views of microdrama content on TVs increasing 90% year-over-year.

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Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications like Polygon, MTV, the Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is the co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Laos.

You can contact or verify outreach from Amanda by emailing amanda@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at @amanda.100 on Signal.